Australian authorities are part of an international hunt for cyber criminals who've shut down the nation's largest meat and food processing company, JBS Foods.
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JBS facilities in other countries have also been hit in a cyber attack that could affect meat supply chains world wide.
Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says the federal government is doing all it can to get Australian abattoirs functioning again, and to limit effects on domestic supply and export markets.
The company has 47 facilities across Australia, including abattoirs and feed lots.
Mr Littleproud says it's too soon to say who might be behind the attack which shut down computer systems including those that deal with quality control.
"The technology they use goes to the heart of the quality assurance of the beef they are processing. We need to make sure we can get that up and going to give confidence not just to consumers in Australia, but also to our export markets," he told ABC radio.
"They are obviously working with law enforcement agencies here in Australia and we're working in partnership with other countries to get to the bottom of this.
"Since it is a global attack it's important not to speculate that it's emanated from any particular place, just yet."
He could not say if it was a denial of service attack or a ransomware attack, but warned that if it was not resolved quickly the economic consequences could be very serious.
"It will depend how long this goes on for, and how long JBS are offline, for it is a supply chain that starts from the farm gate, right through to feed lots, to truck drivers."
The Australian Meat Industry Employees Union has said thousands of workers could not do their jobs on Monday.
Australian Associated Press
